In this blog I present the results of my research into the landowning families of the British Isles and the country houses which they owned. Comments, especially in the form of corrections, additional information or new illustrations, are very welcome. Please use the Contact Form in the right hand side bar to contact me privately or the comments facility at the bottom of the page to make a public comment.

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Friday, 6 November 2015

(194) Arundell of Trerice, Barons Arundell of Trerice

Arundell, Barons Arundell of Trerice

The Arundells of Trerice are said by some early authors to be descended from a junior branch of the Arundells of Lanherne (for whom see my next post), but if so the connection is too remote to be documented. Another version states that this family had their English origins during the reign of King Henry III at Caerhayes (Cornwall) or Allerford (Somerset). And in 1814 the Lysons brothers concluded "We think it extremely probable, from the frequent recurrence of the family-names of Nicholas and John, that the Arundells of Trerice were descended from a younger son of Sir Nicholas Arundell, of [Little Hempston near Totnes] in Devonshire, the elder branch of which failed by the death of his son Sir John, in the reign of Henry III". Whether any or none of these versions of the truth is correct, the Arundells acquired Trerice in the mid 14th century when Ralph Arundell married Jane, sole heir of Matthew de Trerise and his wife Alice, daughter of Lord Flamoke. Matthew's mother had been a Lansladron, and in later centuries the Arundells quartered their arms with those of Lansladron.Ralph Arundell was succeeded at his death in c.1369 by his son Nicholas Arundell, who was apparently still a minor. Nicholas is recorded to have been abducted from his guardian John Tynton by William Lambourn and his wife Joan, but the abductors seem to have been relations, since in 1372 they were living at Trerice and applied for a licence for have a chapel in the house. Nicholas' son, Sir John Arundell, married Jane Durant in the early 15th century, and she brought him the manor of Ebbingford (otherwise Efford) at Bude as part of her dowry, and this became the family's main home for some time. In the 1420s and 1430s, Sir John was the household steward of the Earl of Huntingdon, Vice-Admiral of Cornwall, and a Member of Parliament. His son, Nicholas Arundell, again married well and by his wife, Joan St. John, he left a son, another Sir John Arundell (c.1428-71), with whose career we are at last on firmer ground, and with whom the genealogy below begins. He was evidently a courtier as he was made a Knight of the Bath in 1465. It was this Sir John who moved the family seat from Efford to Trerice, reputedly because he had been warned in a prophecy by a shepherd who he convicted of an offence in his judicial capacity that 'when upon the yellow sand, thou shall die by human hand', and he wanted to live further from the beach. However, he did not escape his fate, for while Sheriff of Cornwall in 1471 he was ordered to recapture St. Michael's Mount (which the Earl of Oxford had seized for the Lancastrians), and in attempting this he was killed in a skirmish on the sands in Marazion Bay.The heir to Trerice was his infant son, Sir John Arundell (c.1468-1512), kt. who, like his father, was made a Knight of the Bath and died fairly young, leaving as heir Sir John Arundell (c.1495-1560), kt., who was the first of two leading figures in the history of the family. He played an important part in Cornish affairs for some fifty years, but was also fairly prominent at Court and as Vice-Admiral of the western seas was involved in combatting piracy and the threat of French and Spanish invasion. Perhaps his seamanship also helped him to chart a safe course between the turbulent seas of Protestant change and the submerged rocks of Catholicism tradition during the Reformation. Despite his involvement in the suppression of the Pilgrimage of Grace and in countering opposition to Protestant reform in the south-west under Edward VI, the Catholic Queen Mary seems to have had no reservation about employing him in the 1550s and indeed he was detailed to provide a generous welcome to Philip of Spain should he land in Cornwall when he came to England for the royal marriage in 1554.

Sir John married twice, firstly to Mary Beville of Gwarnack near Truro and secondly to Julian, the daughter of James Erisey, and his death in 1560 triggered a protracted inheritance dispute. The only son of his first marriage, Roger Arundell (d. 1558?) who was later said to have been insane, predeceased his father but left an infant son, John Arundell (1557-1613) who in the normal course of things should have succeeded to Trerice. However, the death of Roger left Sir John in the position where he had full power to dispose of his estates. Sir John may have been concerned that his eldest son's madness was hereditary, or have been concerned about the implications of displacing his large second family in the interest of an infant heir. The position was further complicated by the fact that his eldest son by his second wife, Robert Arundell (c.1528-80), was born before his parents' marriage and was also a bad character.At all events Sir John decided to settle Trerice and Efford on the adult eldest legitimate son of his second marriage (John Arundell (c.1534-80), while making provision for his grandson and for Robert by leaving them Gwernack and the Menadarva estate at Camborne respectively. Robert, as we have seen, accepted the position and went on to found another gentry family. The younger John keenly felt that he had been cheated of his birthright, and throughout his life made sporadic if spirited attempts to recover it.The chosen heir, John Arundell (c.1534-80), seems to have been a kind and considerate family man for whom public office was a duty to be observed rather than a career to be embraced. In about 1565 he struck a deal with his nephew’s guardian, the Earl of Arundel, surrendering two large manors to the boy, in return for which the latter renounced his rights to the remaining estates. This settlement was confirmed in 1579, when a reluctant Arundell of Gwarnack additionally conceded that, if he died childless, most of his lands would descend to his uncle’s heirs. No doubt feeling that he had put the dispute to bed, in about 1570-73 John turned his attention to the rebuilding of Trerice with up-to-date decoration and some of the finest plasterwork of its date in the south-west. John Arundell died in September 1580 leaving his three-year-old son, Sir John Arundell (1576-1654), the newly rebuilt seat of Trerice, over 2,000 acres in Cornwall, Devon, Somerset and Dorset, and a reversionary interest in a further 3,050 acres held by the Gwarnack branch of the family. The wardship of his heir was purchased from the Crown by family trustees, including his brother-in-law Richard Carew. Sir John Arundell (1576-1654) was the second major figure in the family, and from an early age he showed signs of ability; he was first elected as an MP (for the local borough of Mitchell) shortly before coming of age in 1597, and he was already active in Cornish administration when he became MP for Cornwall four years later. Nevertheless, his inheritance remained under threat, as Arundell of Gwarnack, who had never accepted the legality of the 1579 settlement, persistently sued his cousin in pursuit of his own claim to the entire estate. In 1610 the inheritance issue came to a head again, when John Arundell of Gwarnack obtained a ruling in his favour in the Court of Common Pleas. Sir John responded vigorously, and used his position in Parliament to obtain a private Act setting aside that judgement and confirming the 1579 settlement. That should have been the end of the matter, but when Arundell of Gwarnack died childless in June 1613, he bequeathed his claim to his nephew, Richard Prideaux of Thuborough (Devon) and his son Jonathan, who resumed the battle in the courts. In order to secure the additional Gwarnack lands to which he was entitled, Arundell obtained a Chancery decree in May 1615, whereby he undertook to pay the Prideauxs £550 to abandon their pretensions. This agreement was not finally implemented until 1622, and even then Arundell remained uneasy, and in 1637 he paid Jonathan Prideaux’s heir a further £80 to forestall the revival of any Prideaux claim to the Trerice estates.At the outbreak of the Civil War, Sir John was in his mid-60s but he took up arms for the King alongside his four sons (the eldest of whom was to die in the fighting). Being too old for service in the field, he was made Governor of Pendennis Castle, which he held for the King until the very end of the first Civil War.

Pendennis Castle

The castle was besieged from March 1646 but he held out until mid August, when starvation and the clear lack of any prospect of relief obliged him to surrender. The Arundell estates were seized by Parliament, and were initially made over to one of his creditors, who allowed him to remain in occupation on easy terms, but he was repeatedly arrested on suspicion of conspiracy. In March 1651 he and his son Richard were fined £10,000, though this sum was reduced to £2,000 in February 1654, and the full estates were only recovered by his heir, Richard Arundell (c.1616-87), after the Restoration.When King Charles II was restored to the throne in 1660 a great many people felt they had a claim on his purse and patronage: all those families who had fought for the Royalist cause and sacrificed lives or been fined by Parliament; all those who had patiently financed the royal exile; and those who had engineered the Restoration. At the same time, Charles knew that in order to avoid re-igniting the Civil War there was a limit to the extent to which he could dispossess people who had purchased confiscated estates during the Commonwealth years, or fine Parliamentarian supporters, to meet these claims. As a consequence, most Royalists got little reward for their loyalty and little compensation for their losses. Against this background, the Arundells did better than most, even allowing for the fact that their sacrifice had been greater than most and their loyalty constant. Richard Arundell had been promised a peerage by Charles I in 1646 and this was delivered in 1665 (the barony of Arundell of Trerice); and in redemption of another pledge he was also restored to his father's Governorship of Pendennis Castle for life in 1662. He held positions at Court, including Master of the Horse to the dowager Queen Henrietta Maria, and he was also given cash; we know of a pension of £1,000 a year and a one-off payment of £3,000 in 1670, and a hostile pamphlet alleged a total of £20,000 in 'boons'. His younger brother Nicholas secured a lucrative position as farmer of the excise for Cornwall in 1662 but only enjoyed it for three years before he died in 1665. When Richard died in 1687 he was succeeded by his only son, John Arundell (1649-98), 2nd Baron Arundell of Trerice, who was an MP before he succeeded to the title and also Master of the Horse to another dowager, Queen Catherine of Braganza, 1687-94. In 1675 he married Margaret Acland of Columb John (Devon), who brought him a dowry of £8,000. Although she died in 1691, it was as a result of this marriage that the Trerice and Efford estates passed in 1802 to the Acland family.The 2nd Baron and Margaret Acland had two sons, of whom the younger, Richard Arundell (1696-1758), was clearly a chip off the old block and went on make a good deal of money from Court and public appointments, and to have the same sort of reputation for being beloved of his friends as his great-great-grandfather, almost 200 years earlier. The elder son, John Arundell (1678-1706), 3rd Baron Arundell of Trerice, who inherited the title and estates in Cornwall, was less obviously in the family tradition. He died very young, at 28, but had shown by then no sign of taking on a role in public life. He did marry and produce a son, but when he died he required that he should be buried in the clothes he died in, and forbade anyone to uncover his body between his death and burial, which somehow suggests morbid preoccupations. His only son and heir, John Arundell (1701-68), 4th Baron Arundell, was just four when his father died, and may later have been estranged from his mother. Some sources refer to him as the "Wicked Lord Arundell" because of a story that a female servant at Trerice committed suicide after he had debauched her and then abandoned her when he discovered she was pregnant. In 1721, when it was fairly clear that his uncle Richard would not produce any male heirs and that producing an heir to the title and estates was therefore down to him, he married a woman twenty years his senior who was at the very end of her childbearing years, and they did indeed have no children. His motivation may have been financial, as she was a considerable heiress, but most 18th century peers would probably have put lineage before lucre. Some of the funds she brought him were invested in landscaping works at Trerice, but the couple seem to have lived mostly at Henbury House, Sturminster Marshall (Dorset) which they either acquired or inherited; certainly they were both buried at Sturminster Marshall rather than at Newlyn East, the traditional burying-place of the Arundells of Trerice.On the 4th Baron's death in 1768 his estates all passed, under a clause in his marriage settlement, to his wife's nephew, William Wentworth (d. 1775). William let Trerice, which became a farmhouse and began its long descent into semi-dereliction. William's son and daughter inherited the estates in turn, but in 1802 they passed, as we have seen, to the Aclands of Killerton, who already possessed much larger and grander properties scattered across Devon and Somerset. They had little use for Trerice (although the hall there seems to have been restored in the 1840s to provide a suitable setting for occasional manor courts and tenant feasts), but the Efford estate offered some development possibilities.

Efford Cottage

In 1817 they were involved in promoting a canal (opened in 1823) to link Bude with Holsworthy, Okehampton, Launceston and the Tamar. This gave impetus to the development of Bude, and in 1833 the Aclands produced a plan for the development of the town to the designs of George Wightwick of Plymouth. By then they had already constructed a seaside holiday home, Efford Cottage, on the base of some of fish cellars at the mouth of the river. The old manor house at Efford became the rectory for the newly constituted parish of Bude, and the Trerice estate was sold in 1915.

Trerice, Cornwall

Sir John Arundell (d. 1471) made Trerice the main home of his family for the first time in the mid 15th century. Little or nothing is known for certain about the house he occupied, but it seems likely that he engaged in some building work as any existing manor house is unlikely to have been fit for permanent gentry residence. E.M. Jope suggested in 1961 that the earliest part of the house was the south-west wing, and that this originally consisted of a three-storey tower (later reduced in height) to which a short range containing a first-floor hall was soon added.

The south-west wing of Trerice in the 1950s. The truncated attic window on the left may be evidence that
the 15th century house incorporated a tower element.

More recent interpretations suggest that by the mid 16th century at least, the house was much larger - indeed larger than the present house - and had a U-shaped plan open to the rear of the present house. This does not, however, contradict Jope's suggestion that the south-west wing incorporated a tower, for which he saw evidence in the truncated attic window on this side of the house.

In the early 1570s, John Arundell (c.1534-80) largely rebuilt the existing house, and created the charming and nearly symmetrical south-east main front, with a central three-storey porch and slightly-projecting end wings. The facade is given great character by the highly decorative scrolly gables with carved mask corbels at their bases, and the large trefoil gables between. Although the general form of the house is traditional, the Dutch gables at Trerice are believed to be the earliest ones now known in England, preceding those at Kirby Hall (Northants) and Wollaton Hall (Notts), and built less than a decade after the form was first engraved in Vredeman de Vries' Architecture of 1563 (although that is not their direct source). It is possible that John Arundell's design was influenced by contacts with Antwerp through the Mercers' Company, with which his wife's first husband and several of her kinsmen were involved.

Trerice in 1811: a sketch showing the different form of the end wall of the south-west range at that date.
Image: National Trust

Left of this main front is the plain gable end of the south-west range, but views of the house in 1811 and 1818 show that this was rebuilt in its present form between these two dates and that previously it had windows, string-courses and perhaps a scrolly gable that matched the 16th century front. Round the corner, the main feature of the south-west range is a large curved bay window; this was built as a staircase tower in the 1570s but in the 17th century the first floor was made into a magnificent curved bow window to light the Great Chamber, and a new staircase tower was formed on the rear of the south-east wing.

Trerice Manor: the south-west range, with the stairtower converted into a bay window in the 17th century. Image: Nicholas Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

After the last of the Arundells died in 1768 the house became a tenanted farm and was allowed to fall into decay. At some point a north-east range mirroring the surviving south-west range, either collapsed or was taken down in its entirely, and in a storm in 1860 the northern end of the south-east range also collapsed and was partially taken down. This was only reconstructed, with the help of surviving drawings of the house, by C.R. Corfield for the National Trust's tenant, Mr J.F. Elton, in 1953-57. Additions were made south and west of the south-west range in the later 19th century.

Trerice in the early 20th century, after the collapse of the northern part of the house. Image: National Trust.

Inside, the house has some of the best and most important early plasterwork in the south-west of England; it bears comparison with similar work at Collacombe Manor, Lamerton; Buckland Abbey; and Colleton Barton, Chulmleigh, which is all closely dated to the 1572-76 period and was executed for a group of clients who were either related or may plausibly be assumed to have known one another. It is therefore likely that the same group of local craftsmen were responsible for all these commissions.

The two-storey Great Hall has a fine strapwork ceiling, restored by the Aclands in c.1840, in a pattern of thin ribs ornamented with oak leaves and scrolls, and with spherical pendants. Curiously it does not exactly fit the space, especially over the window. Between the pendants are the initials of the builder, John Arundell, his first wife, Katherine Arundell, and his sister, Margaret. The fireplace has a scrolled plaster overmantel, supported by well modelled terms, and is dated 1572. Across the north end of the hall is a gallery lit by small recessed arches set high in the cornice.

From the hall, a 20th century staircase created in one of the projecting wings of the 16th century facade, rises to the Great Chamber, which has an elaborate barrel ceiling of fine interconnecting strapwork with Tudor rose motifs and scrolls, large pendants and a deep frieze. On the west wall is the coat of arms of Henry FitzAlan (d. 1580), 12th Earl of Arundel, who was connected by marriage with the Arundells of Lanherne, and who held the wardship of John Arundell (1557-1613) of Gwarnick, nephew of the builder, John Arundell. The massive fireplace overmantel (dated 1573) incorporates the coat of arms of Sir John Arundell (d. 1560), flanked by those of his wives' families. From the Great Chamber a so-called Long Gallery, which is actually little more than a corridor along the back of the house, leads past the upper part of the Great Hall to the rooms created in the new part of the house in the 1950s. The Long Gallery itself has simple early 19th century plaster strapwork decoration on the ceiling.

The house preserves the bones of its 16th century garden layout in the three terraces now known as The Orchard, the Front Court, and the Bowling Green Terrace. The Front Court contains two crouching Arundell lions brought from Kenegie Manor, Gulval, in the early 19th century; for their possible origin see my post on the Arundells of Menadarva, Trengwainton, Kenegie and Lifton Park. The Bowling Green Terrace has a mound which may have been a viewing mound. A garden survey in 2004 also found that in addition to these surviving features, the valley below the house was laid out in the mid 18th century as a Rococo landscape with walks, possible pleasure houses, a series of lakes (two of which were of considerable size), islands and stepping stones. This was presumably done for John Arundell (1701-68), 4th Baron Arundell of Trerice, although he may have lived mainly in Dorset. These features had evidently been abandoned and lost by 1820 when Gilbert, in his Historical Survey of the County of Cornwall commented that there was ‘but little appearance of its once fruitful gardens, raised terraces, and expansive lakes’.

Trerice: the gateway with caps and balls from Tresmarrow near Launceston. Image: Nicholas Kingsley. Some rights reserved.

The stone gatepiers which memorably frame the view of the main front of the house, incorporate granite caps and balls brought here from Tresmarrow near Launceston after it was demolished in 1975.Descent: Ralph Arundell (d. c.1369); to son, Nicholas Arundell; to son, Sir John Arundell; to son, Nicholas Arundell; to son, Sir John Arundell (d. 1471); to son, Sir John Arundell (d. 1512); to son, Sir John Arundell (d. 1560); to son, John Arundell (c.1534-80); to son, Sir John Arundell (1576-1654); to to son, Richard Arundell (c.1616-87), 1st Baron Arundell of Trerice; to son, John Arundell (1649-98), 2nd Baron Arundell of Trerice; to son, John Arundell (1678-1706), 3rd Baron Arundell of Trerice; to son, John Arundell (1701-68), 4th Baron Arundell of Trerice; to his nephew by marriage, William Wentworth (d. 1775), who leased the house; to son, Frederick Thomas Wentworth (d. 1799); to sister, Ann Hatfield Kaye (d. 1802) of Hatfield Hall (Yorks); on her death it passed under a settlement made by the 4th Baron to Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1787-1871), 10th bt.; to son, Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1809-98), 11th bt.; to son, Sir Charles Thomas Dyke Acland (1842-1919), 12th bt., who sold 1915... sold 1919 to Cornwall County Council which divided the estate into smallholdings and sold the house to Mr. C.E. Shepherd; sold c.1946 to Somerset de Chair, who sold 1953 to The National Trust, which initially let the house to Mr J.F. Elton but opened it to the public from 1969.

Ebbingford (alias Efford) Manor, Bude, Cornwall

Ebbingford Manor, from a postcard of 1896

A late 16th century manor house which was radically remodelled in 1758, when much earlier fabric was reused, and which has been further altered and added to in the 19th and 20th centuries. The result is an elongated H-plan with a long two-storey front, irregularly fenestrated, with a massive central chimneystack and another projecting at the east end of the north wing. The house served for some years as the rectory of Bude, and now offers holiday accommodation.Descent: John Arundell (fl. early 15th cent.); to son, Nicholas Arundell; to son, Sir John Arundell (d. 1471); to son, Sir John Arundell (d. 1512); to son, Sir John Arundell (d. 1560); to son, John Arundell (c.1534-80); to son, Sir John Arundell (1576-1654); to to son, Richard Arundell (c.1616-87), 1st Baron Arundell of Trerice; to son, John Arundell (1649-98), 2nd Baron Arundell of Trerice; to son, John Arundell (1678-1706), 3rd Baron Arundell of Trerice; to son, John Arundell (1701-68), 4th Baron Arundell of Trerice; to his nephew by marriage, William Wentworth (d. 1775); to son, Frederick Thomas Wentworth (d. 1799); to sister, Ann Hatfield Kaye (d. 1802) of Hatfield Hall (Yorks); on her death it passed under a settlement made by the 4th Baron to Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1787-1871), 10th bt.; to son, Sir Thomas Dyke Acland (1809-98), 11th bt. who sold before 1896 for use as a rectory for Bude.

Arundell family of Trerice, Barons Arundell of Trerice

Arundell, Sir John (c.1428-71), KB of Trerice. Eldest son of Nicholas Arundell and his wife Joan, daughter of Edward St. John. JP for Cornwall; made a Knight of the Bath, 26 May 1465; Sheriff of Cornwall, 1470-71. A shepherd whom he convicted of an offence in his judicial capacity is said to have prophesied that 'when upon the yellow sand, thou shall die by human hand', and in order to make this less likely, Arundell moved from his house on the coast at Efford to Trerice. However, he did not escape his fate, for in the year of his shrievalty he had the King's command to recapture St. Michael's Mount, which the Earl of Oxford had seized for the Lancastrians in the Wars of the Roses, and in attempting this he was killed in a skirmish on the sands in Marazion Bay. He married 1st, Margaret, daughter of Sir Hugh Courtenay, kt. and 2nd, Anne, daughter of Sir Walter Moyle, kt. of Eastwell (Kent?), and had issue:(1.1) Robert Arundell; died young;(1.2) Walter Arundell; died young;(2.1) Robert Arundell; married Ellen Southwood and had issue a son (James Arundell, who died without issue, 31 December 1491); (2.2) Sir John Arundell (c.1468-1512) (q.v.);(2.3) Nicholas Arundell; married and had issue, from whom descended the Arundells of Sheviock (Cornwall);(2.4) Walter Arundell.He moved the family seat from Efford to Trerice in the mid 15th century, and may have built a new manor house there. At his death, his estates may have passed first to his eldest surviving son Robert, but following the death of Robert and his son passed ultimately to the second son, Sir John Arundell.He was killed at Marazion Bay, 1471 and was buried in the chapel on St Michael's Mount. His widow's date of death is unknown.Arundell, Sir John (c.1468-1512), KB of Trerice. Elder son of Sir John Arundell (d. 1471), kt. and his second wife, Anne, daughter of Sir Walter Moyle, kt, born about 1470. He was probably the John Arundell who was knighted by King Henry VII after the Battle of Stoke-on-Trent, 1487, and he was made a Knight of the Bath, 14 November 1501. He married Jane (d. c.1552), daughter of Thomas Grenville, and had issue:(1) Sir John Arundell (c.1495-1560), kt. (q.v.);(2) Richard Arundell;(3) Edward Arundell;(4) Elizabeth Arundell.He inherited the Trerice and Efford estates either from his father in 1471 or later from his brother or nephew.He died 12 July 1512. His widow married 2nd, before 1509, Sir John Chamond (d. 1544), kt. and they lived at Efford until he was granted the manor of Launcells in 1537; they had issue one son; she outlived her second husband and died 1551/2.

Brass at Stratton to Sir John
Arundell and his two wives.

Arundell, Vice-Admiral Sir John (c.1495-1560), kt., of Trerice ('Jack of Tilbury'). Only son of Sir John Arundell (c.1468-1512), kt. and his wife Jane, daughter of Thomas Grenville, born about 1495. A courtier who remained in favour throughout the religious controversies of the mid 16th century and served Henry VIII, Edward VI, Mary I and Elizabeth I. Esquire of the Body to King Henry VIII; Receiver-General of the Duchy of Cornwall, 1515; JP for Cornwall from 1530; High Sheriff of Cornwall, 1520, 1524, 1532, 1542, 1554. In 1536 he led one of four Cornish companies involved in putting down the Pilgrimage of Grace in the northern counties, thus establishing his Protestant credentials, and c.1550 he investigated discontent in the south-west with the religious changes of King Edward VI. In 1523 he attracted praise and renown for the defeat and capture in an engagement at sea of Duncan Campbell, a notorious Scottish pirate, and he subsequently served as Vice-Admiral of the western seas under King Henry VIII to 1544 and again under Edward VI. It was presumably in that capacity that in 1537 he wrote to the King reporting the inadequacy of Cornwall's coastal defences, following an incursion by Spanish and French ships as far up the Fal estuary as Truro, and this led to the building of Pendennis and St. Mawes castles in c.1539-45. He was knighted, not as often stated at the Battle of Spurs in France, 1513, but in 1542.He married 1st, before 1512, Mary, daughter and co-heiress of John Beville of Gwarnack (Cornwall) and 2nd, c.1532, Julian (d. 1567), daughter of James/Jacob Erisey and widow of [forename unknown] Gourlyn, and had issue*:(1.1) Roger Arundell (d. before 1560); married Elizabeth, daughter of Robert Denham of Tredenham, and had issue a son (John Arundell (1557-1613) of Gwarnack, who conducted a sporadic campaign to claim the Trerice and Efford estates); Roger was later claimed to have been insane although the context of the claim makes it unreliable; died in the lifetime of his father;(1.2) Catherine Arundell (fl. 1550); married, as his second wife, Richard Prideaux (1519/20-1603) of Thuborough in Sutcombe (Devon) and had issue five sons and two daughters;(1.3) Jane Arundell; married William Wall esq.;(2.1) Robert Arundell (d. 1580) [for whom see Arundell of Menadarva];(2.2) Margaret Arundell (c.1533-1612); married, apparently after 1572, Robert Beckett (d. 1603), esq. and had no issue; buried 1612;(2.3) John Arundell (c.1534-80) (q.v.);(2.4) Mary Arundell (b. c.1535); probably died unmarried;(2.5) Joan Arundell (c.1537-1604); married William Viell (d. by 1591) of Trevorder and had issue six daughters; buried at Landrake (Cornwall), 18 April 1604;(2.6) Philippa Arundell; probably died unmarried;(2.7) Richard Arundell; died young;(2.8) Grace Arundell (b. c.1541; fl. 1560); married John, daughter of William Dinham esq. of Wortham and had issue six sons and four daughters.(2.9) Margery Arundell (c.1543-1610); married John Trengough alias Nance of Nance and had issue three sons and three daughters; died 25 December and was buried at Illogan, 28 December 1610;(2.10) Ann Arundell; died young.He inherited the Trerice and Efford estates from his father in 1512. He acquired the Gwarnack estate by his first marriage. At his death he left Gwarnack to his grandson by his first son; Menadarva to his first son (born prior to their marriage) by his second wife, and the main Trerice and Efford estates to the eldest legitimate son of his second marriage.He died 25/26 November 1560 and was buried at Stratton. His first wife's date of death is unknown, but it was probably before 1528. His widow was buried at Newlyn East, 12 March 1567.* Some sources record another daughter by the first marriage: Elizabeth, married Robert Tredenham, but this appears to be a confusion with Elizabeth, the widow of Roger Arundell, who is referred to as 'my daughter Elizabeth' in Sir John's will.Arundell, John (c.1534-80) of Trerice. Second, but eldest legitimate, son of Sir John Arundell (d. 1560) and his second wife, Julian, daughter of Jacob Erisey, born about 1534. MP for Mitchell, 1555, 1558; High Sheriff of Cornwall, 1574. 'A kind and loving man', whose concern for his family and household is evident in the provisions of his will. Robert Carew recorded of him:

"that of his enemies he would take no wrong nor on them any revenge, and being once reconciled, embraced them without scruple or remnant of gall. Over his kindred he held a wary and chary care, which bountifully was expressed when occasion so required, reputing himself not only principal of the family but a general father to them all. Private respects ever with him gave place to the common good; as for frank, well ordered and continual hospitality, he outwent all show of competence; spare but discreet of speech: better conceiving than delivering; equally stout and kind, not upon lightness of humour, but soundness of judgement; inclined to commiseration, ready to relieve. Briefly, so accomplished in virtue, that those who for many years together waited in nearest place about him, and by his example learned to hate untruth, have often deeply protested how no curious observation of theirs could ever descry in him one notorious vice".

He married 1st, 1562 Catherine (d. 1572), daughter and co-heiress of John Cosworth esq. of London and widow of Alan Hill esq., and 2nd, 1573, Gertrude (d. c.1635), daughter of Robert Denys esq. of Holcombe Burnell (Devon), and had issue:(1.1) Juliana Arundell (c.1563-1629); married, 1577 at the age of 14, Richard Carew (1555-1620) of Antony (Cornwall), antiquarian and author of the Survey of Cornwall, and had issue five sons and two daughters; buried 7 May 1629;(1.2) Alice Arundell (c.1565-1633); married, 18 December 1583, Henry Somaster (d. 1606) of Painsford (Cornwall) and had issue two sons and one daughter; buried 13 February 1632/3;(1.3) Dorothy Arundell (b. 1567; fl. 1608), baptised at Newlyn East, 30 July 1567; married Edward Cosworth (fl. 1620), son of John Cosworth of Cosworth (Cornwall) and London and had issue three sons and nine daughters;(1.4) Blanche Arundell (1568-69), baptised at Newlyn East, 4 September 1568; died in infancy and was buried 3 March 1568/9;(1.5) Mary Arundell (c.1569-1633); married Oliver, son of John Dinham esq. of Wortham and had issue; buried 2 April 1633;(1.6) Jane Arundell (1571-73), baptised at Newlyn East, 20 January 1571/2; died in infancy and was buried at Newlyn East, 17 April 1573;(1.7) Katherine Arundell (b. & d. 1572), baptised at Newlyn East, 16 June 1572; died in infancy and was buried 25 December 1572;(2.1) John Arundell (1575-76); died in infancy and was buried at Newlyn East, 18 February 1575/6;(2.2) Sir John Arundell (1576-1654), kt. (q.v.);(2.3) Thomas Arundell (1577-1648) of Traherne, Duloe (Cornwall); said to have been born 12 November 1577; a soldier who according to Carew "followeth the Netherland wars with so well-liked a carriage that he outgoeth his age and time of service in preferment"; MP for West Looe, 1640; married 1st, Mary (d. 1623), daughter of Sir Gamaliel Capell and had issue one daughter and 2nd, 21 June 1624 at Morwenstow, Julian, daughter of George Cary of Clovelly (the sister of his elder brother's wife) and had issue two sons; died 3 November and was buried in Westminster Abbey, 7 November 1648;(2.4) Anne Arundell (b. 1574), baptised at Newlyn East, 8 May 1574; married, 1 December 1610, William Carnsew (d. by 1627) of Buckelly, Quartermaster of the county militia by 1599, third son of William Carnsew of St. Kew (Cornwall) but had no issue;(2.5) Catherine Arundell (1580-1629), born 17 April 1580; married, 29 January 1604, John St. Aubyn (d. 1639), son and heir of Thomas St. Aubyn of Clowance (Cornwall) and had issue five sons and seven daughters; buried 17 December 1629;He inherited the Trerice and Efford estates from his father in 1561 and built the new house at Trerice c.1570-73. He also inherited lands in Devon, Dorset and Somerset from his father.He died 15 September 1580; an inquisition post mortem was held 3 November 1580 and his will was proved 26 November 1580. His first wife died in 1572. His widow married 2nd, after 1585, Edward Parker (c.1550-1618), 12th Baron Morley; she died in c.1635 and her will was proved 25 April 1635.Arundell, Col. Sir John (1576-1654), kt., of Trerice. Elder son of John Arundell (c.1534-80) of Trerice and his second wife, Gertrude, daughter of Robert Denys esq. of Holcombe Burnell (Devon), born 22 November 1576. His father died when he was three, and his wardship was purchased from the Crown by family trustees, including his brother-in-law, Richard Carew. Educated at Middle Temple (admitted 1594). According to Carew he "even from his young years, began where his father left [off], and with so temperate a course treadeth just in his footsteps, that he inheriteth as well his love as his living". He had a long but broken parliamentary career, sitting as MP for Mitchell, 1597, Cornwall, 1601 and 1621-22, St. Mawes, 1624 and Tregony, 1628. JP for Cornwall, c.1599-1625, 1642-46; High Sheriff of Cornwall, 1607; Col. of Militia Horse by 1599; Recorder of Tregony, 1622. A member of the Virginia Company, 1610-c.1623. Knighted, apparently at Liskeard (Cornwall), August 1644. During the Civil Wars he took up arms for the King and was a Colonel in the Royalist army and Governor of Pendennis Castle, 1643-46. His four sons fought for the same cause and the eldest was killed in the fighting. Pendennis Castle was beseiged from March 1646 onwards, but Sir John maintained an heroic defence until 17 August, when a desperate lack of supplies and no prospect of relief forced his surrender on honourable, indeed generous, terms. In 1648 he was involved in plotting an uprising against the Parliamentary regime. He married, before 1613, Mary (d. 1646), daughter of George Cary of Clovelly (Devon) and had issue:(1) John Arundell (1613-46), baptised at Newlyn East, 3 March 1613; educated at Lincolns Inn (admitted 1633); MP for Bodmin 1640-44 (excluded 1643); killed in the Civil War; buried at Newlyn East, 14 July 1646;(2) Anne Arundell (c.1614-1701), born about 1614; married 1st, 8 December 1634 at St Newlyn East, John Trevanion (1613-43), son and heir of Charles Trevanion of Caerhayes (Cornwall) and had issue one son and two daughters; married 2nd, before 1674, Sir John Arundell (d. 1701) of Lanherne (who had married 1st, Elizabeth, daughter of John Roper, 3rd Baron Teynham); buried 8 November 1701; will proved 22 November 1701;(3) Richard Arundell (c.1616-87), 1st Baron Arundell of Trerice (q.v.);(4) William Arundell (d. 1635); educated at Lincoln's Inn (admitted 1633); buried at Newlyn East, 4 May 1635;(5) Francis Arundell; apparently died young;(6) Nicholas Arundell (1623-65) of Gwarnick, baptised at Stratton (Cornwall), 18 May 1623; a Captain in the Royalist army during the Civil War, he was present at the defence of Pendennis Castle in 1646; JP for Cornwall, 1661-65; MP for Truro, 1661-65; farmer of the Cornish excise duties, 1662-65; married, 9 October 1660 at Budock (Cornwall), Honour James but had no issue; died before 6 July 1665, when an inventory of his goods was taken;(7) Mary Arundell (d. 1646); died unmarried and was buried at Newlyn East, 29 August 1646.He inherited the Trerice and Efford estates from his father in 1580 and came of age in 1597. As a consequence of his devotion to the Royalist cause, all his property was confiscated by Parliament in 1647. His sequestered estates were initially made over to one of his creditors, who allowed him to remain in occupation on easy terms, but he was repeatedly arrested on suspicion of conspiracy. In March 1651 he and his son Richard were fined £10,000, though this sum was reduced to £2,000 in February 1654, in view of the profits already seized from their estates, and the properties were finally discharged two months later. Richard later estimated their combined losses at over £30,000.He died 5 December 1654; his will was proved 22 May 1656. His wife was buried 4 September 1646; her will was proved in 1648.Arundell, Richard (c.1616-87), 1st Baron Arundell of Trerice. Second, but eldest surviving, son of Sir John Arundell (1576-1654), kt. and his wife Mary, daughter of George Cary of Clovelly (Devon), born about 1616. Educated at Lincoln's Inn (admitted, 1633; called to bar, 1640). MP for Lostwithiel, 1640-44 (excluded 1642) and for Bere Alston, 1660, 1662-65. A Lt-Colonel in the Royalist army, on the personal staff of King Charles I, he was described by Lord Clarendon as "a stout and diligent officer", active in the field from the Battle of Edgehill throughout the Civil War; he was with his father at the siege of Pendennis Castle in 1646. He remained unreconciled to the Parliamentarian regime, and was active in the Western Association in 1650 and in the abortive Royalist uprisings of 1655 and 1659. During the reign of King Charles II he remained a consistent supporter of the Court party in Parliament, but in the 1680s he was listed among the opponents of King James II. In recognition of the devotedness of his father, himself and his brothers to the Royalist cause, he was promised a peerage in 1646, but he was only created Baron Arundell of Trerice on 23 March 1664/5, when his fortunes had recovered sufficiently to support the dignity. He was also made Governor of Pendennis Castle, 1662-87, Master of the Horse to the Queen Mother, 1665-69, and was awarded a royal pension of £1,000 a year in 1674; in addition he received various one-off gifts, including £3,000 in 1670, and a critical pamphlet alleged that he was receiving £2,000 a year from the excise and had received a total of £20,000 in 'boons', although these figures were probably exaggerated. JP for Cornwall, 1660-87 and DL 1662-87; Col. of Militia, 1660-87; he also served on various parliamentary commissions in the 1660s. He was made a Freeman of Plymouth, 1684 and of Liskeard, Mitchell, Bodmin and Penryn in 1685. He married, c.1645 at St James, Westminster (Middx), Gertrude (c.1614-91), daughter of Sir James Bagge, kt. of Saltram (Devon) and widow of his friend and companion-in-arms, Sir Nicholas Slanning (d. 1643), kt. of Bickley (Devon) and had issue:(1) John Arundell (d. 1648); died in infancy and was buried at Richmond (Surrey), 16 July 1648;(2) John Arundell (1649-98), 2nd Baron Arundell of Trerice (q.v.).His estates were seized by Parliament in 1647 and he compounded for them jointly with his father, but only recovered his property fully after the Restoration.He died on 27? September 1687 and was buried at St James, Westminster, 10 October 1687. His widow was buried in the same place, 28 November 1691.

Arundell, John (1649-98), 2nd Baron Arundell of Trerice. Only surviving son of Richard Arundell (c.1616-87), 1st Baron Arundell of Trerice and his wife Gertrude, daughter of Sir James Bagge, kt. of Saltram (Devon) and widow of Sir Nicholas Slanning, kt. of Bickley, baptised 1 September 1649. MP for Truro, 1666-79, 1685-87; Master of the Horse to Queen Catherine of Braganza, 1687-94. Described as a person 'of great loyalty and integrity... whom envy itself cannot blemish in the least'; he is said to have once fought a duel over an heiress and to have twice wounded his rival, 'after which he closeth with him and with his Cornish dexterity throws him flat on his back, takes away his sword and breaks it; and then gives him his life, and his mistress, whose charms were not equal to her fortune'. He married 1st, 1675 (licence 10 May; settlement providing a dowry of £8,000, 11 May), Margaret (1654-91), daughter of Sir John Acland, 3rd bt. of Columb John (Devon) and sister and sole heiress of Sir Arthur Acland, 4th bt.; and 2nd, 14 February 1692/3 at All Hallows Staining, London, Barbara (d. 1721), daughter of Sir Thomas Slingsby, 2nd bt. of Scriven (Yorks), bt. and widow of Sir Richard Mauleverer of Allerton Mauleverer (Yorks), and had issue:(1.1) Gertrude Arundell (1676-1709), baptised at Newlyn East, 22 June 1676; married 1st, 1 December 1702, as his second wife, Peter Whitcombe (d. 1704) of Great Braxted (Essex) and had issue one son who died young; married 2nd, 2 October 1707, Sir Bennet Hoskins (1675-1711), 3rd bt.; died 23 September 1709;(1.2) John Arundell (1678-1706), 3rd Baron Arundell of Trerice (q.v.);(2.1) Richard Arundell (1696-1758) of Allerton Park (Yorks); a well-connected and much loved man with a talent for friendship; MP for Knaresborough in the interest of the Earl of Burlington, 1720-58; Surveyor of the Kings Works 1726-36; Master of the Royal Mint, 1737-45; a Lord of the Treasury, 1744-46; Treasurer of the Chamber in the Royal Household, 1746-56 and Clerk of the Pipe, 1748-58; inherited the Allerton Park estate in 1721 but lived mainly at 34 Great Burlington Street, London (designed for him by Colen Campbell), 1720-58 and inherited the personal estate of his neighbour there, the Countess of Warwick, in 1731; married, 2 September 1732, Frances (d. 1769), daughter of John Manners, 2nd Duke of Rutland; died without issue, 1758; his widow bequeathed her property to her nephew, William Monckton (later Monckton-Arundell), 2nd Viscount Galway.He inherited the Trerice and Efford estates from his father in 1687. He also had a house in St. James' Place in London.He died 21 June and was buried 23 June 1698; his will was proved 27 June 1698. His first wife died 26 March and was buried at Newlyn East (Cornwall), 5 April 1691. His widow married 3rd, 21 September 1708, Thomas Herbert (d. 1733), 3rd Earl of Pembroke; she died 1 August and was buried in Salisbury Cathedral, 9 August 1721.

Arundell, John (1678-1706), 3rd Baron Arundell of Trerice. Elder son of John Arundell (1649-98), 2nd Baron Arundell of Trerice, by his first wife, Margaret, daughter of Sir John Acland, 3rd bt. of Columb John, born 25 February and baptised at St Martin-in-the-Fields, 12 March 1677/8. He married Jane (c.1674-1744), sixth daughter of Rt. Rev. William Beaw DD, Bishop of Llandaff, and had issue:(1) John Arundell (1701-68), 4th Baron Arundell of Trerice (q.v.).He inherited the Trerice and Efford estates from his father in 1698.He died in London, 24 September 1706 and was buried at Newlyn East (Cornwall), 22/30 October 1706; his will (which contained the unusual provision that he was to be buried in the clothes he died in, and that his body was not on any account to be uncovered or exposed after his death) was proved 3 December 1706. His widow died 20 June and was buried at Thornbury (Glos), 23 June 1744, where she is commemorated by a monument; by her will (proved 14 July 1744) she left her son only a gold watch; her property was divided between her sisters.Arundell, John (1701-68), 4th Baron Arundell of Trerice. Only son of John Arundell (1678-1706), 3rd Baron Arundell of Trerice, and his wife Jane, daughter of Rt. Rev. William Beaw, Bishop of Llandaff, born 21 November 1701. Educated at Balliol College, Oxford (matriculated 1718). A Tory in politics. In the 1750s and 1760s he maintained a domestic chaplain. He married, 2 June 1722 at Hounslow (Middx), Elizabeth (c.1681-1750), who was 'almost old enough to be his mother' and was sixth daughter of Sir William Wentworth, kt. of Wakefield (Yorks) and sister of Thomas Wentworth (1672-1739), 3rd Baron Raby and 1st Earl of Strafford; they had no issue.He inherited the Trerice and Efford estates from his father in 1706 and came of age in 1722. He may have been responsible for laying out the landscape park at Trerice in the mid 18th century. On his marriage, he settled all his estates - in the event of his dying without issue - on his wife's nephew, William Wentworth esq. of Henbury House, Sturminster Marshall (Dorset), with remainder to Sir Thomas Acland, bt. and his heirs, who eventually came into the estate in 1802.He was buried with his wife at Sturminster Marshall (Dorset), 13 August 1768; the barony of Arundell of Trerice became extinct on his death. His wife died 21 March 1750 and is commemorated by a ledger stone in the church at Sturminster Marshall.

Location of archives

Arundell of Trerice: Some papers are to be found among the archives of the Arundells of Lanherne and Wardour [Cornwall Record Office, AR, AD1896, X1005]Arundell, Richard (1696-1759): Papers relating to his official appointments are found among the papers of the Monckton-Arundell family, Viscounts Galway [Nottingham University Archives, Ga 9201-13257]

Coat of arms

Arundell of Trerice: Quarterly, first and fourth, sable, six swallows close, three, two and one, argent (for Arundell); second and third, sable, three chevronels argent (for Lansladron).

Can you help?

Here are a few notes about information and images which would help to improve the account above. If you can help with any of these or with other additions or corrections, please use the contact form in the sidebar to get in touch.

Does anyone know of surviving portraits of any of the Arundells of Trerice? One feels that figures so prominent at Court must have been painted, certainly in the 17th century and possibly in the 16th century.

Can anyone supply further genealogical details for the early generations of this family from deeds, wills or other contemporary soures?

Who was the Margaret Langley, widow, of Golden near Shrewsbury to whom the 3rd Baron left £2,000 in his will? And what was his property at Weybridge (Surrey?), also referred to in his will.

Why did the 4th Baron choose to marry, at 21, a woman nearly twice his age whom he apparently realised would not give him any children, when the continuance of his title and the orderly descent of his estate was dependent upon him fathering an heir?

About Me

I was educated at St Paul's School in London and Keble College, Oxford and went on to train as an archivist in the world-famous Bodleian Library. I spent 37 years as a professional archivist, and was Chairman of the National Council on Archives from 2001 to 2005, and Head of Archives Sector Development and Secretary of the Historical Manuscripts Commission at the National Archives from 2005 until I retired in May 2015.

Alongside my professional career I have also been an architectural historian of the country house. This is a passion nurtured at Oxford, where I was President of the University Architectural Society. Between 1989 and 2001 my three volume study of The country houses of Gloucestershire was published, and my distinctive contribution has been to put together the evidence for the history of country houses and landed estates that can be gleaned from family archives and genealogy with the evidence from the buildings themselves, to tell a richer narrative than any of these sources alone can provide. I am now embarked on an ambitious blog (http://landedfamilies.blogspot.co.uk), which aims to tell the story of every landed family in the British Isles and their country houses. If I continue working hard until I am a centenarian I might finish the job!

Since one big project is never enough, I am also involved as a Trustee and volunteer with the Victoria County History of England, which aims to tell the story of every English village and town, and I do some advisory work for the National Trust, which looks after so many of the country houses I care passionately about.

I have been married for 37 years to my precious and special wife Mary, who mercifully tolerates my obsessions and collections, and even my cooking.